Thanks Oscar and morning crew.Half-time round-up:The share...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The share market is on track for its weakest close in 21 months after weak domestic GDP added to headwinds following a dramatic dive on Wall Street.

The ASX 200 dived more than 100 points in the first half hour of trade before paring its loss to 84 points or 1.5% at 5629 mid-session. A close around these levels would be the index's lowest since February 2017.

The local market followed US stocks sharply lower after a fall in US treasury yields overnight signalled possible trouble for the economy. The Dow slumped 799 points or 3.1% and the S&P 500 3.24% as analysts poured water on the notion that a weekend deal between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping marked a breakthrough in their grumbling grade war. President Trump added to concerns by tweeting his support for tariffs if negotiations fail.

US futures edged higher this morning, but had little impact with markets closed tonight for a day of mourning following the death of former President George HW Bush. S&P 500 futures were recently ahead 9.25 points or 0.34%.

The outlook for local stocks was further clouded by news this morning that economic growth fell well short of expectations last quarter. Third quarter gross domestic product increased 0.3% - half the anticipated rate, knocking annual growth down to 2.8%, compared to a predicted 3.3%. The dollar dropped roughly a third of a cent to 73.14 US cents.

I.T., energy and bank stocks bore the brunt of the selling. The IT sector shed 2.4%, energy 2.3%, financials 2.3%, materials 0.9% and industrials 0.8%. Defensive utilities rose 0.6% and gold stocks 0.1%.

China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.71% andJapan's Nikkei 0.81%.

Crude oil futures declined 51 cents or 0.96% this morning to US$52.74 a barrel. Gold futures trimmed overnight gains with a fall of $4.80 or 0.39%to US$1,241.80 an ounce.

 

 

Rough morning for HC favourites FBR and LYC. Half the true believers on the threads will blame day traders for decisions by Caterpillar and the Malaysian government, so keep your head down and don't make eye contact. Edge towards the door. Trading: feel I should have been a lot busier. Not a lot of conviction in the bounces today. I stayed away from FBR and LYC but probably shouldn't have. Took WBT. Long way from the placement price. No other buys hit.